Rip in Time Ch. 10

"This is too much." Willow fumed, her fingers still fumbled while pulling her clothes back on.

"I don't get it, Red, you said his name but who is this tosser? " Spike asked, confounded by her odd behavior.

Ripper continued to stare at the man. He guessed that he was oddly familiar, the nose for instance. He squinted in the darkness . .that knowing smirk. Ripper chuckled as he finally recognized the man. "Bloody hell! It is Ethan! What have you been up to, mate?"

"Nothing as interesting as you." Ethan drawled, eyeing Willow. She gave him a forbidding scowl. "I must say, it's nice to see you again, dear girl."

"Go to hell." Willow said with false sweetness as she finally managed to put her clothing to rights. She slipped out from behind Ripper and Spike and walked determinedly down the alley.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ripper called.

"Away from all of you!" She huffed, not even turning around to speak to them. Like errant school boys they filed in behind her, following her to the destination of her choosing. She stopped and swung around. "What are you doing?"

"Following you, pet." Spike said amicably.

"Just wanted to make sure you were safe." Ripper added.

"Truthfully, I was hoping you might take off some more of your clothes." Ethan said with what she supposed was rakish charm. It didn't work.

"Listen up! If you're British and blond, get the hell away from me!

"Uh, Red?"

"Bleached blond counts, Spike."

"Ducks? I'm not a blond." Ethan insisted.

She looked at his hair, he was right. "Okay, if you're a lech then."

"I beg your pardon!"

"Yes, you should! Actually, all three of you fall into that category!"

They all looked at the ground sheepishly, not following her further. "Thank you! And goodnight!"

Willow stomped her way to the end of the alley. As she started to round the corner, a green-eyed young man jumped out from behind a dumpster. "I've been looking for you!" He announced in what he hoped was a booming confident voice.

"Really? You may have to take a number." Willow eyed the young man. He stood with his hands on his hips, legs spread wide. He felt it was a very imperious stance. He failed to recognize the that it was also a poorly balanced one. Willow corrected that misconception. She planted one hand in the middle of his chest and pushed, sending him onto his haunches. She grinned as he looked up at her, stunned. She reached inside where her glamour was still in effect and flashed him her vampiric features over her shoulder as she strolled out of the alley. "Bored now."

*********

Giles gasped as he finally woke up. Good Lord! Ripper and Spike and Willow. Then Ethan showed up. . .Christ! And he'd actually seen Willow's . . . "Oh dear!" He said with feeling. Can I even look at the girl again without blushing?

"Giles? Are you here? I really need to talk to you." Willow cried as she shut his apartment door behind her.

He could hear her footsteps echoing on the steps that led to his bedroom."Uh, y- yes, Willow. I-I'll be right th–"

"Giles!" She wailed as she entered his bedroom and sat down next to him on the bed. She was so disturbed by her own behavior that she failed to recognize his state of undress and obvious agitation. "It was horrible! Well, not all of it, but. . .never mind. Ethan Rayne is here and he was. . .looking at me. It was eww! And scary at the same time."

Giles clutched the sheet to his obviously naked body. This was almost more than he could bear. "I can see you're upset, Willow. If you would give me a moment, I could–"

"He's making me act this way, I'm not normally like this. We've got to send him back!" She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I couldn't agree more." He said as his hand groped for a t-shirt that was flung on the chair by his bed. Giles was so unnerved and Willow was so upset, they failed to notice the door opened again and the sound of two sets of footsteps. "Willow, I need to get dres–"

Buffy and Xander had followed Willow, Ripper and Spike out of The Bronze but failed to locate them. They had finally noticed Willow coming out of an alley. They had called to her but she looked very angry and didn't seem to be in the mood to talk. Wisely, they had followed after her at a discrete distance. Now, they could make out the sounds of a muffled argument.

"I mean, who does he think he is? Groping me in some. . ." She stared at the bed suddenly. "Oh, God! You know, don't you? Ack! You've seen me naked! Naked in front of Giles!"

"Well, because Ripper is me, the young me that is, so I was rather–"

"You felt me up, Giles! How could you?" She screeched. Willow was actually angry at herself but she needed someone to blame. Spike couldn't be held accountable, after all, he was a vampire. Shagging in an alley was probably a dull night for him. Ethan hadn't touched her, but she'd like to slap that arrogant smirk off his face. Ripper wasn't here but his older counterpart was.

Xander and Buffy had just arrived outside the door and had pressed their eager ears against the surface, listening intently.

"How could I? You were the one dressed like a trollop, pressing yourself against me. Can you blame me for taking what you offered?"

"What I offered?! What you were dying to have from the moment you met me. And I'm not a trollop, pervert!"

"I didn't say you were one, I said you were dressed like one!"

Xander and Buffy stared at each other in open-mouthed horror. Giles and Willow had been having an affair for years! "It must have started in high school." Buffy whispered, still in shock.

"Blech!" Xander groaned. He'd known that Willow had been messing around with younger, cuter Giles. . . but tweedy, old Giles? "She's lost her mind."

Giles was speaking again. "I'll admit it, I pursued you but you were willing! You wanted me as much as I wanted you."

"Think about it Buffy." He did a quiet Giles impersonation. "You have such a brilliant mind, Willow. I need you to look some stuff up on the computer for me, Willow. Why don't you let me take you home from the Scooby meeting, Willow." He shook his head in disdain. Then put his hand over his mouth to stifle an 'Ah ha!' "Remember when we thought she was dead? The way he hugged her? It was a little too friendly, don't you think? We were fools! All the signs were there."

"How could I think straight?" Willow yelled. " You and Spike were all over me! I had some alcohol, I didn't know what I was doing!"

"No, you were too busy rubbing up against us." He glared down at her legs. "And let's not forget the leather!"

"Spike too? I mean Giles is at least. . .well, it's still yech. But Spike? I know she was dancing with him in the club. They looked too comfortable together, didn't they?" Buffy surmised. "She must have been having an affair with Spike too."

Xander did a full body shiver. "Ewww! Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "Oh, no! He's been tied up in Giles bathroom. The three of them must have–"

"With the handcuffs and the chains and. . .hey. ..why does Giles have handcuffs and chains lying around anyway?" Something tugged at her mind.

"Well, I could suggest something but then we'd have to go to the bathroom to toss our cookies and that would mean actually touching something in that place. We can never again use the facilities again here. Ever. It's a Den of Icky."

"Iniquity." Buffy corrected. "You know what? My mom thought he made love like a stevedore. Do you know what a stevedore is?"

"Spanish for 'yuck'?"

"Sounds about right to me."

"Feel free to keep knowledge like that to yourself, okay?"

"Sorry."

"And just why are you friends with Ethan anyway? What other disgusting little things did you two do together? The man practically groped me with his eyes." Willow accused.

"She was going to sleep with Ethan?" Buffy grumbled. "Jeez, is there anyone else we've left out?"

"VampWillow? Do you think she somehow came back here? Maybe VampWillow, Giles, Spike and Ethan have been having a secret affair." Buffy suggested.

"That's too weird. How could he keep that from us? Why would he do it?"

"Hey, the guy has chains and he lives on the Hellmouth. Maybe the pressure got him."

"He has been knocked on the head a lot." Xander agreed.

Willow's anger had all but dissipated. "Giles, I don't want to fight anymore. I'm tired."

Giles took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Willow. Some of the things I said we're rude and uncalled for."

"Me too. This isn't any of your fault. I think I was mad at myself."

"Don't be, Willow. It's only natural to experiment. I should know." He laughed softly. "Any young man would be lucky to have you, you're a beautiful, intelligent young woman."

"Thanks." She whispered, shyly. "You're not so bad yourself." She leaned forward and embraced him in a warm hug. She laid her head against his chest. His naked chest that was sprinkled with hair. She looked at him closely, for the first time. Earlier, she'd been under the influence of anger and outrage. "Oh my God! You're naked! Naked Giles! I'm touching a naked Giles!"

"Like that's never happened before!" Xander clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh no! They're gonna do it again, aren't they? Run, Buffy! We' ll be scarred for life if we hear this!"

"Don't you think we should try to stop them?"

"Do you want to manhandle a naked Giles?"

"No, thanks. A retreat is in order." They were both about to stand up when the door was opened, knocking both of them in the head. They both moaned in pain.

"Buffy! Xander! What are you two doing here?" Willow breathed.

"Buffy and Xander are out there?! Bloody Hell!" Giles called. He brought the sheet around his waist and went into the hallway. "What in the bloody blazes were you two doing out. . .you were spying on us!"